SmartPlaylist vs CanTunes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SmartPlaylist
Generate custom music playlists using extensive filtering and sorting rules. Organize your music library by text, numerical, date, and property criteria. Seamlessly integrate with your device's music player for playback.
- 26 customizable smart playlists
- Over 20 search rules per playlist
- Text, numerical, and date filtering
- Logical operators for rule combination
- iCloud backup and restore for rules
- Hierarchical music library browsing
- Playback queue integration
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SmartPlaylist is the most advanced playlist generator for iPod/iPhone/iPad with many unique features. SmartPlaylist uses the titles stored in your Music library on your device. There are 26 smart playlists (SmartPlaylist A-Z) which you can use and name as you wish. In each SmartPlaylist you can combine more than 20 search rules to filter and sort your iTunes music library. These rules can be saved in iCloud. Available search criteria: ● Text search: Genre, Grouping, Composer, Artist, Album-Artist, Album, Title, Comments, Lyrics and/or iTunes-Playlist Search for exact matches („is equal to“), for any partial matches („contains“) or use wildcards („is like“ ?/*). Use logical operators to unite (" OR “), intersect (" AND “) or exclude (“ NOT “) certain songs Example: The rule "Genre contains blu OR zz" will give you all your blues and jazz songs in 1 playlist. ● Numerical search: Rating, Play Count, Skip Count, Duration, Track Number, BPM and/or Year. ● Date search: Added, Last Played, Last Skipped, Released (how many days, weeks, months or years ago) You can search for values less than, equal to / from-to (=) or more than the limit you set ● Property search: is in compilation, is in iCloud, is music video (all/yes/no) The titles loaded in SmartPlaylist also become the playback queue of the Music app and the now playing title is also shown in the lock screen and the control center, where you can play/pause, fast-forward, skip, etc. There are many settings to configure, e.g. what search rules you want to use and what info you want to see in the list of titles. General procedure: 1. Select a smart playlist (a) 2. Set the search rules (a) 3. Tap „Load titles“ (a) 4. Scroll through the list of matching titles (b) 5. Press on a title in the list to play it or tap to see all its details (c). a) THE MAIN SCREEN: The search rules of a smart playlist (e.g. „SmartPlaylist A“) ● Use „Menu“ to open the settings and help, copy/paste rules and backup/restore with iCloud ● Use „(i)“ to open the details of a search rule (there, use „(+)“ to open the pick list for genre, artist, etc.) ● Use „All/Active“ to toggle between showing all search rules and showing only the active rules (yellow) ● Browse your music collection hierarchically by Genres > Composers > Artists > Albums > Titles ● Use list operations to add, subtract or intersect the results of SmartPlaylists ● Limit the number of titles per artist or per album, or limit the list to x minutes, hours or titles ● Sort with multiple criteria, e.g. 1. by Artist, 2. by Rating (per artist), 3. by playCount (per rating) ● With „Show only“ you can load another SmartPlaylist while the previous list is still playing in the background ● If you do not set any search rules „Load titles“ will load all titles in your music library b) THE LIST VIEW: The list of titles matching the search rules ● Long-press on a title to play/pause ● Pinch in/out to change the row height (S-M-L) and toggle the display of the artwork ● Use quick-search to search within the loaded list or mark certain titles ● Scroll to the now playing song in the list with „Now playing“ c) THE DETAIL VIEW: All the details/infos for the selected song ● If you have selected a song which is not being played, you can scroll up and down through the title list with „^“ / „v“ ● When you are in the „Now playing mode“, „^“ / „v“ will play the previous or next song, respectively. ● Enlarge the cover artwork up to full screen (tap/double-tap or pinch in/out) ● Tap on a line to open the values in a text view where you can copy the text or look up the definition of words, etc. (e.g. in the lyrics) ● Add the selected song to another smart playlist or remove it from the current one (i.e. make exceptions to the rules, which can also be edited in the corresponding search rule) ● Load all songs with the same genre, artist, year, etc. as the selected song
CanTunes
This app offers a simplified music player designed for individuals with cognitive disabilities. It allows users to independently select and play music from their iPad library through a highly visual and customizable interface, reducing reliance on complex controls.
- Extremely simple interface
- Visual interface with minimal text
- Customizable album display
- Optional on-screen controls
- Sleep mode for timed shutoff
- VoiceOver and switch compatible
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CanTunes is now free. Spread the word! CanTunes provides an extremely simplified way for people with a range of cognitive disabilities to select and play music on an iPad. CanTunes promotes independence, builds confidence and reduces the need for caregiver interaction by enabling people with disabilities to control and enjoy their own music. CanTunes plays the music that is on your iPad. Once you have downloaded your favourite music to your iPad and installed CanTunes, you can easily choose an album to play by simply tapping on the album cover. *** WHO IS IT FOR? *** CanTunes is especially beneficial to people who have difficulty operating CD players or standard music software. *** KEY FEATURES *** - Extremely simple: does not require understanding of traditional music player buttons (such as play, pause, skip, and so on) - Visual interface with minimal use of text - Completely customizable interface: - Display 1,2,4,12 or 16 album covers per screen - Add or remove on-screen controls such as volume control, page buttons, access to settings - Sleep mode to shut off the music after a specified time - VoiceOver compatible: also compatible with switches using VoiceOver *** TESTIMONIALS *** “Our daughter took to the iPad wonderfully. It was amazing seeing her do something that she can do independently. It is going to be great for our summer holidays this weekend. This opens a whole new world for her.” - Parent “It allows him a great deal more satisfaction knowing he is taking a more active part in his life.” - Group home manager *** SUPPORT *** Technical support for CanAssist apps is provided by email only. Please email your enquiries and requests to appsupport@canassist.ca. *** CANASSIST at the UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA *** CanAssist at the University of Victoria is dedicated to developing customized technologies and services for people with disabilities, with a focus on clients in British Columbia, Canada.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: CanTunes at Free against SmartPlaylist's $1.99. CanTunes also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.4) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 months). SmartPlaylist's advantage is ratings volume (53 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
CanTunes is free to download; SmartPlaylist costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
CanTunes holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmartPlaylist has 53 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of SmartPlaylist's written reviews are positive against 100% of CanTunes's.
SmartPlaylist ships an update every 2 months, CanTunes every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SmartPlaylist | CanTunes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.4 (53 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 77.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 53 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 7.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | daenu | University of Victoria |
Customer experience
SmartPlaylist
CanTunes
In-app purchases
SmartPlaylist
No in-app purchases
CanTunes
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SmartPlaylist free?
Is CanTunes free?
Which has better reviews, SmartPlaylist or CanTunes?
Do SmartPlaylist or CanTunes have ads?
Which is updated more often, SmartPlaylist or CanTunes?
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